Great Plains earnings top analysts' views 6-29-98

Brenon Daly

Great Plains Software shares could get a boost Wednesday after the company reported earnings that were better than analysts expected. The company (GPSI)
GPSI, +0.00%
said it earned 18 cents per share, 2 cents ahead of the consensus estimate on Wall Street. Sales at Great Plains, which makes software for businesses, increased 48 percent to $26.2 million. The increase was lead by a near doubling of sales of the products tied to Windows NT client-server software. Ahead of the release, shares dipped 7/8 to 33 7/8, about 6 points under an all-time high.

Windows 98 sales seen strong

Microsoft shares rose after early indications pointed to strong sales of Windows 98, the company's latest version of software that powers 90 percent of the world's PCs. Despite a muted rollout last week, about 530,000 copies of Windows 98 sold in the first four days of availability. That report helped outweigh a report from Morgan Stanley Dean Witter analyst Mary Meeker that said that the release of the software giant's operating system for businesses will slip to the second quarter from the first quarter. The world's largest software company (MSFT)
MSFT, -1.81%
is relying on its Windows NT 5.0 to fuel growth, and is trying to move its customers from Windows 95 and 98 to the NT platform. Shares in the software giant added 15/16 to 108 3/8.

CyberCash warns of sluggish sales

CyberCash stock dropped 2 1/16 to 12 3/16 after it said it expects to report lower-than-expected second-quarter sales of $2.2 million to $2.5 million. The company (CYCH)
cych
declined to estimate its profit for the quarter; analysts expected the company to report a loss of 75 cents per share. The acquisition of ICVerify caused "uncertainty" and delayed customers' purchases of the electronic commerce software, CyberCash said. About 40 workers, or 20 percent of CyberCash's workforce, has been fired to keep costs in line with the sluggish sales.

Information Advantage buys IQ Software

Information Advantage shares inched up after saying it will buy IQ Software in a deal valued at $65 million. Information Advantage (IACO)
iaco
will issue 1.96 shares of its common stock in exchange for each share of IQ Software (IQSW)
iqsw
, with the deal expected to close in October. Information Advantage said the acquisition will boost earnings for the current year. Information Advantage shares dipped 5/16 to 6 3/8, while IQ Software lost 3/4 to 11 1/4.

Sapiens deals with BankBoston

Sapient Corporation (IQSW)
sape
, stock edged higher after it said it will supply an Internet banking system to BankBoston (BKB)
bkb
. The service will begin in July. Sapient shares added 2 3/4 to 52 3/4.

Infoseek meeting Street analysts

Infoseek shares rose 7/16 to 35 7/8 as the company made another round of trying to sell analysts on its deal with the Walt Disney Co. (DIS)
DIS, -1.35%
. Some observers say Disney got half of the company on the cheap, with some estimates showing Disney paid less than half the current market price for shares in the search engine company (SEEK). Executives are meeting with East Coast analysts.

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